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editorial articles reviews news & views - Institute of Sikh Studies

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GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES IN SCIENCE AND SIKH RELIGION<br />

17<br />

grand narrative <strong>of</strong> modern western civilization is the collapse <strong>of</strong> the<br />

metanarrative <strong>of</strong> reason.<br />

SCIENCE-SPIRITUALITY DIALOGUE<br />

During the new millennium, the conflict between Science and<br />

Religion finds a retreat, and we are living in a world where a dialogue<br />

between Science and Spirituality has become possible. Paradoxically,<br />

the inadequacy <strong>of</strong> reason has been revealed by reason itself. The<br />

Uncertainty Principle proposed by Werner Heisenberg has demolished<br />

the pyramid <strong>of</strong> deterministic philosophy based on Newtonian worldview.<br />

Here was an impasse beyond which reason could not go in its<br />

understanding <strong>of</strong> reality. The knower and the known are being seen<br />

as intertwined, mutually inclusive and not mutually exclusive. It is<br />

being felt that the traditional (dualistic, atomistic, reductionist) view<br />

is incapable <strong>of</strong> revealing the essence <strong>of</strong> reality. A new ‘holistic’ view<br />

is needed to see Reality in its concrete wholeness – a view that would<br />

see the whole in the parts and the parts in the whole, envisioned as<br />

‘dynamic becoming’ and not ‘static being’. This necessitates what is<br />

termed as “the paradigm shift” or the breakthrough <strong>of</strong> a new<br />

problematic in our thinking. This would not mean a negation <strong>of</strong> reason<br />

but going beyond it, to the realm <strong>of</strong> spirit. The notion <strong>of</strong> ‘spirit’ in<br />

this sense would be the foundational principle <strong>of</strong> the global civilization<br />

<strong>of</strong> the third milliennium analogous to the way in which ‘reason’ was<br />

the foundational postulate <strong>of</strong> the modern Western civilization after<br />

the Renaissance in Europe.<br />

POST MODERN ERA : AN AGE OF GOLBALIZATION<br />

Due to a large number <strong>of</strong> technological advances in the postmodern<br />

era, the world is rapidly shrinking. Globalization has become<br />

the buzzword everywhere. Some pr<strong>of</strong>ound changes are taking place<br />

which are distinctly different from the modern era. Obviously, there<br />

is rethinking and reconfiguration <strong>of</strong> modern era ideologies, causing<br />

many tensions, confusions and insecurities. Post modern era can be<br />

described as an era <strong>of</strong> conflict and anxiety. Inter-faith dialogue and<br />

global perspectives <strong>of</strong> science-spirituality dialogue have become <strong>of</strong><br />

utmost importance in the post-modern era.<br />

Post-modernism has questioned the empirical methods <strong>of</strong> the

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